Polica

An offshoot of Minneapolis, Minnesota's prolific Gayngs collective, electro-pop outfit Poliça features singer Channy Leaneagh and producer Ryan Olson as its core members. Leaneagh's vocal prowess was well-known around town, and Olson asked her to join Gayngs as a touring member. The pair began collaborating on their own music in June 2011, putting Leaneagh's versatile voice (she'd previously fronted the folk-rock band Roma di Luna with her former husband, Alexei Moon Casselle) in Olson's smooth electronic soundscapes, which borrow equally from R&B and goth pop. Within a month, they had an album's worth of songs ready and began recording, recruiting drummers Ben Ivascu and Drew Christopherson, bassist Chris Bierden, and Bon Iver collaborator and vocalist Mike Noyce to flesh out the sound they envisioned. The results, Give You the Ghost, were mixed by Spoon's Jim Eno and released by Olson and Christopherson's Totally Gross National Product on Valentine's Day 2012. The album earned widespread critical acclaim, and the band spent much of that year touring with acts such as the xx. Poliça's second album, Shulamith, arrived in October 2013 and featured a more streamlined sound as well as a duet with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi